


Survival Instincts

by Merfilly



Category: Transformers (Bay Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-09-12
Updated: 2011-09-12
Packaged: 2017-10-23 16:54:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,430
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/252627
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Merfilly/pseuds/Merfilly
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Starscream is not going to allow Megatron the right to destroy his creations</p>
            </blockquote>





	Survival Instincts

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the August challenge of "Beginnings" at primescream on Livejournal.
> 
> Set after events in RotF, but precludes DotM.

Megatron was licking his wounds. That certainly suited Starscream, who had his own wounds to tend to, and plots to put back into place. It was, after all, his place to see to the hatchlings' survival. One of the few things the Fallen, disgusting as the ancient mech had made him feel during the engendering of the current brood, had gotten right was that their species needed more mechs. With the Allspark destroyed, the older, messier methods of procreation were necessary.

Megatron would not accept a brood of those connected to the one that had led him into such a disgrace though. Even if Megatron had felt the satisfaction of deactivating Optimus Prime, the rest of their defeat in Egypt would make him avenge himself on whatever pieces of legacy the Fallen had left behind.

Starscream could not allow that. Not for the decrepit ancient's legacy, but because of his own. He had provided code, spark energy, and even precious energon from his own systems to see that they survived! Even still, the deactivation rate had been alarmingly high.

He prowled the sacs, investigating how many of them still showed any processor activity. Of the brood, he counted only five still with both motor functions and processor activity, though a sixth showed the processor still active. The Air Commander studied the nutrient sacs, processors working overtime. If he subspaced most of his missile capability, he might just have enough room to make this work.

The one still showing processor energies would just have to endure being seated in a pod within Starscream's own chest plates.

Quick, decisive snaps of orders to the drones that serviced their needs, and Starscream was rapidly on the way to throwing in his lot not just with the side that was winning, but on the side of survival.

`~`~`~`~`

Optimus Prime wished he could find a reason to send every single one of his Autobots away from him currently. He was tired of their solicitous inquiries into his well-being. Yes, he was integrating Jetfire's upgrades. No, he did not feel odd. Yes, he would always regret that another had deactivated so that he could not only survive, but also do battle with one of his own kind.

A Prime. It still rankled deep in his spark that any Prime could ever fully forget themselves, their calling, as the Fallen had done.

What if he had forgotten the true path? What if Optimus Prime was a mockery to the calling he had met as a younger mech?

Such questioning, and the general attitude of his Autobots concerning his welfare, led to him finally rolling away from NEST HQ to have peace and quiet of his own.

`~`~`~`~`

Starscream was not fond of long waits, but his patience had paid off. His systems had not yet fallen into dangerous levels, and all six hatchlings were still thriving when he finally caught a wisp of the signature energy source he was seeking. Even the hatchling secured in his chest panels had improved, bathed so directly in spark resonance, which boded well for Starscream getting his way.

Normally, Starscream would have either flown in directly with guns blazing, or stealthfully come up on the rear of his target, firing once he was in sight. It took an effort of will not to fall into that pattern now, with one of their greatest enemies in his path.

However, Starscream was well-aware that it was time to change those lines of thinking. He had hatchlings to nurture, the next wave of their race was in his keeping and he needed an unfettered supply of energy.

::Optimus Prime, I seek asylum!::

Those words, Starscream knew, would buy him time. Optimus Prime, no matter how much of a war mech he had become, was inherently a gentle mech. He flipped into root form, mindful of how his energon was currently diverted into what should have been weapon bays, and landed, taking a knee in supposed subservience.

His calculations, though, had not taken into account how raw the Prime still was from his failure to safeguard his mechs. The powerful hand of the Prime was wrapping around the back of his neck, lifting him up off his thrusters and shaking him slightly, leaving Starscream to hastily apply inertial dampeners within his own frame.

"PRIME!" He squawked in fear, completely caught off-guard by this reaction to him.

Optimus Prime had not been aware of Starscream until hailed. That alone was enough to bring up all his defenses, his weapons, and more. His aggression levels had been dangerously high ever since Mission City, but to see Starscream as his supplicant had triggered something deep in him that he didn't want to face.

The fight in the woods to protect Sam tumbled back, those last memories before he had offlined, caught and trapped in his unresponsive frame because the Matrix had known, had foreseen the cusp of events Sam had precipitated. Optimus Prime had fought with a strength and ferocity that none of his Autobots could match, holding off the three Decepticons that had challenged him until Starscream had distracted him too long.

His chest ached from the punch of Megatron's blade.

"You dare?" He demanded of Starscream, blue optics shading dangerously deep with raw emotion.

"I do, my Prime. I come in hopes that you will see to the future of our race, through what I bring." Starscream's cunning processor brought up all the small cheeps and whirrs happening in the six incubation sacs, and played them as a maelstrom of noise. Optimus gasped, his grip loosening on the flier, which allowed Starscream to take his own feet with a shake. "Six new creations."

"Not so new as to not be tainted by the one." Optimus growled as he regained control of his processor, sidelining his nurturing response to those calls, to maintain his warrior protocols.

"That does not erase the fact they are innocents who will certainly be destroyed by Megatron, if he discovers me with them," Starscream said, with just the right nuance of piteous outreach to make Prime find him worth studying.

"This is just a ploy to keep your own armor intact," Prime accused.

Starscream's red optics glinted. "Of course, my Prime, but I am truly here with you, offering you the offspring of my own coding as hostage for my behavior, should you grant me the asylum I seek."

The pair of mechs were matched in pose, one aggressive, the other defensive, with optics locked to one another for a long time. Then Optimus Prime initiated a deep scan of Starscream's entire frame, verifying the presence of the hatchlings, and leaving the flier tingling in the aftermath.

"My my, Prime, normally a mech likes to be seduced first," Starscream baited. It was enough to make Optimus's faceplates tighten with the realization of how invasive he had just casually been, even if to an enemy.

However, what Starscream was offering, the fact Starscream knew the protocols that Ratchet had been unable to find....

"You have little use to _me_ ," Optimus said with as much callous disregard as he could summon. "But what you offer is of purpose to our entire race."

"And isn't it just a shame that it takes a Prime's coding to maintain just what I am offering?" Starscream pressed, a lie, but Optimus could not know that.

Prime's optics raked the flier's face, trying to see if this was a bluff, but when he could not convince himself of it, he dropped his gaze to Starscream's chest instead. "You carry one where you are most vulnerable."

"Merely a convenience, as my bays were already full," Starscream said smoothly, but the implicit threat in Prime's words raked through him, Oh, but this game would be interesting, with one so bold and forthright. "Shall I disarm for you, now that you have found my most vulnerable point?" Starscream demanded. "I point out that the leeches are sucking me dry, and if I stasis-lock, they will deactivate."

Optimus Prime knew the answer was 'yes' to taking the weapons. However, Optimus was also a Prime, and those were his future people, even if the Fallen had engendered them. He turned away, looking back toward NEST HQ. "Walk at my side," he ordered.

The hatchlings were Prime-coded, Starscream was their guardian, and Optimus had too many issues to work through to think logically where the flier was concerned. Whatever had just happened between them was going to have ramifications for a long time, but Optimus would personally make certain Starscream was under watch the whole while.


End file.
